LETTERS (8 ITEMS)

Several basic freedoms were established by our original Constitution. We have fought wars and shed a lot of blood to protect these freedoms. Yet we grant our modern politicians the power to erode these freedoms at every election.

Your property rights, your basic right to privacy, the right of your children to a proper education, the right to a truly representative government without excessive taxation;all these rights are being diminished by the politicians we elect.

Vote the incumbents out of office. The incumbent is a professional politician, and the professional politician is more interested in his welfare than he is in yours. We have allowed our government to establish a multitude of bureaucracies that are out of control. All politicians bear some responsibility for this, but it is the Democrats who seem to be the worst, and they are currently in control. Get rid of them.

Vote Republican, then watch them very closely.We may have to remove them next election.

George D. McCullough

Suquamish

Differences dramatic

To the Editor:

Some people say that there are no differences between the political parties. But there are differences, and these differences are dramatic and significant. Some of the important issues are:

Taxes: The Democratic Party believes the money you earn belongs to the government. The Republicans believe the money you earn is yours to use as you see fit.

Defense: The Democrats have reduced the Department of Defense to the point that it is questionable if we can defend this country from attack by a foreign power. Republicans believe in a strong defense as the best deterrent to aggression.

Social Security: Democrats believe the government can do it better. Republicans trust people to make decisions and take actions to support themselves when provided with the options that will allow them to do so.

Health care: Both parties believe the government should help citizens retain affordable care, but Democrats want to control the health care industry completely.

Education: Democrats bow to pressure from the National Education Association and leave no choices for parents, especially poor and middle- class families. Republicans believe in parental choice as one of the building blocks of a strong family unit.

The choice is clear. We can vote for Democrats who have "promised" a larger, more powerful federal government. Or we can return self government and freedom to the people with the Republican Party. I will vote Republican.

Phillip Marceau

Bremerton

I-745

Supports initiative

To the Editor:

Washington has the third worst traffic congestion in the nation. What's the problem? In recent years, the failed policy in Olympia has been to ignore highways. It was foolishly argued that "if you build it, they will come," meaning if the government added capacity to our road system, people would just fill it up. The problem with this "strategy" was "they" came anyway. Population and traffic congestion have continued to grow while virtually no new capacity has been added.

I-745's funding formula (90 percent of transportation taxes for roads, 10 percent for alternatives) matches how people actually get around. Cars and trucks account for 94.6 percent of all transportation trips. The vast majority of us need the freedom and flexibility only a vehicle can provide - I-745 requires spending to match usage, meaning most transportation spending will go toward road construction, maintenance, lane extensions, bridges and car-carrying ferries.

I-745 requires performance audits be conducted on every state and local transportation agency to find out if we're getting the best bang for our transportation buck.

Opponents of I-745 are the same people who predicted doom-and-gloom with Initiative 695. As we all know, the government found a way to adjust to lower license tab fees; they'll do the same with I-745.

Please vote Yes.

Tim Eyman

Mukilteo

Editorial misguided

To the Editor:

In your editorial against I-745, you recommend a no vote because in part: "shutting down passenger ferries would force 350 people on each run to possibly have to drive between Bremerton/Seattle, putting an additional 1,400 cars per hour on the roads."

What happened to the usually reliable auto/ passenger ferries leaving the same dock with adequate passenger room available but taking a few minutes longer to reach the destination?Must these poor commuters, unable to use the unreliable, high-cost foot ferries, be required to take to the highways with their single occupancyvehicles to further clutter our already overburdened traffic lanes? What next? Express transit buses with chrome rims and white sidewall tires for use by only the most discriminating commuter?Get real. You embarrass us by your lack of common horse sense.

Leon Small

Poulsbo

Vote no

To the Editor:

Initiative 745 is before the voters.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived in the Los Angeles area for five years before moving to Kitsap County in 1981. The Bay Area is dependent on bridges for transportation mobility. Los Angeles put all its eggs in the freeway basket for 40 years, and it got them smoggy air and gridlock. (Now, they recognize the need to diversify.)

I-745 devotes 90 percent of transportation funding to road building. Unless it is part of a comprehensive transportation plan to include an extensive network of new bridges, an increase in roads will be of limited value to Kitsap County. In fact, as other transportation modes like ferries and transit are devalued, our mobility and air pollution will worsen. There is certainly no consensus to build new bridges to Bainbridge, Vashon or even Tacoma.

I-745 strikes out completely. First, the main argument for the initiative is that we can relieve traffic congestion by building more and wider roads. That hasn't worked anywhere in the world. Instead, more and bigger freeways just attract more cars to give us a six-lane traffic jams instead smaller ones.

Second, with 90 percent of all state and local transportation money spent on roads, we will eliminate public funding for public transportation. Most public transportation agencies will simply close. In Kitsap County, more than 10,000 people ride public transportation every day. What will happen to them? They can't get to school, to work, or to their appointments. If I were a drive-alone-to-work type, I would want to keep the buses on the roads instead of adding the current transit riders to the traffic in their cars.

Third, this initiative was supposed to give us more us more control over our tax money. I-745 does just the opposite. We are forced to send our transportation tax dollars to the state, and there is no guarantee that it would come back. What happened to local control and decision making?

Vote no on I-745.

Per K. Johnsen

South Colby

MASON COUNTY

Likes Likkel

To the Editor:

Voters in Mason County, please take the opportunity to make a choice for a county commissioner who will work to help us all. Judy Likkel has been doing this for over 10 years now with state of the oyster studies in lower Hood Canal and her work on the lower Hood Canal Watershed Implementation Committee.

Judy has always given me support and advice. I would like to take this opportunity to give my support to her candidacy for county commissioner District 2. Judy has the ability to listen, to think and to make sound decisions. She also has the ability in getting people to work together and in getting important projects done.

Judy Likkel will not be a political hack tied to an archaic political party and having to toe the party line controlled by a few self-serving businesses and corporations. A vote for Judy is a vote for free thinking and decision-making at its best.

Henry L. Minch

Belfair

INSURANCE CHIEF

For Davidson

To the Editor:

This letter is in support of the candidacy of my friend, Don Davidson, who is running for state insurance commissioner. He is the former mayor of Bellevue and is a practicing dentist. He is running for insurance commissioner because he understands the frustrations felt by both patients and health-care providers when dealing with insurance companies.

Many health insurance companies have chosen not to stay in business in Washington. Others have been put in a financially precarious position. We need a person in the insurance commissioner's office who understands that health insurance must be successful as a business in order to continue to provide the benefits that subscribers have purchased. At the same time, the insurance commissioner must be an advocate for the citizens of Washington. Don will ably balance these goals.

Don will be a tireless advocate for patient's rights. He will make sure that consumers get fair treatment from the insurance industry. He will work constructively with the insurance companies to allow them to service the insured.

Please join me in voting for Don Davidson for Washington State insurance commissioner.

A. "Mike" Morton, D.D.S.

Silverdale

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